Follow-Up With Your Foreign Customers

August 26, 2008 by User Imagecindy  

Today I want to talk to you about something you must do when you start getting your first international clients. You never know what gems you may discover.

The best international market research is usually simple and easy to do. And it is actually quite fun.

Ask Customers Why They Buy Your Products

One of the ways you can get valuable international market feedback, is to systematically call all of your international clients and ask them a few questions after they purchase.

The most important question you need to get the answer to is:

  • Why did they buy your product from you?

Here are a few more guidelines for you to start your systematic follow-up calls:

  • Call them before they forget you. Do not wait or make excuses.
  • Continue your relationship. Show them you value them as a client.
  • Invite your clients to a short interview so you can learn how to serve them better.
  • Consider having someone else conduct your interviews. This can be easier for your client to accept. This can also be a way for you to hire a native-speaker for only a couple of hours work.
  • Keep track of what is said to you. With all of the details. Don’t summarize their statements.
  • Ask them to give you specifics, to explain why they say something. Dig a little to understand what got them to buy, why they liked it and what you could do to make it better.
  • Keep your ears open for opportunities to ask to use good feedback in a testimonial or a referral strategy.
  • Continue the relationship by providing something that says thank you. A special report, bonus, gift voucher. Or even a hand written thank you not from the president. Have a look at the different cultural behaviors in the Get International Clients Business Guide - Cultural Web Tools to fit your thank you with the culture.

International Business Success

Even small brick and mortar businesses can benefit from this simple strategy.

Some time ago, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal about how a restaurant in the United States figures out that German clients came to their hotel according to a particular weather conditions to go fishing locally.

This hotel learned to actively promote their hotel every time this trigger event happened again.

You never know what your international clients will come back with. As in international marketer, there are two things you want to take home with these questions.

  • Can you improve your offer for this particular international market?

One opinion might not be enough. You will need to review as many responses as you can. Some cross-referencing from other sources is also a good idea.

  • Is there a trigger event you can identify?

Identifying a trigger event can open the door for easy profits for you with the appropriate marketing.

Make Time For Simple Strategies

Systematic customer follow-up right after a sale is an easy international marketing method. Yet many businesses do not do it.

If you are just beginning to develop your international markets this is something you should be doing after every sale. Find a native-language student if the foreign languages are becoming excuses.

The feedback you get will speed your path to adapting your products to foreign markets.

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Join Us On The International Sales Road Map

August 25, 2008 by User Imagecindy  

New Format - Get International Clients Newsletter

  • Are you committed to developing your international business?
  • Do you know what you need to do to get more international clients?
  • Do you want an easy to follow action plan?

Then you will be happy to read about the up-coming changes here at Get International Clients.

Starting September the Get International Clients Newsletter will become the ideal companion to follow the International Sales Road Map.

But don’t worry, the Get International Clients Newsletter will still be FREE.

The weekly newsletter will only change its format slightly.

You see, I am tired of hearing the excuses from the brick and mortar companies. I am tired of seeing small internet business owners with great international potential making the same mistake:

NOT taking the right action to develop international business is the biggest barrier to international business success.

Developing an international business takes work.

The key to success is to take small steps consistently. You do not need to spend months and months wondering what to do, and trying to figure out what budgets you need.

In any case, you will not be able to answer these questions accurately prior to jumping into action.

So don’t waste your time. Take action today. Even small actions. And continue taking action regularly.

Sequential Newsletter Gives You Easy Steps To Follow Every Week

If you are already a subscriber, you will know that the current format of the weekly newsletter already gives you useful tips and action steps. What will be different? Up until now, the newsletter is issued every Sunday evening my time and everyone gets the same newsletter every week. The new format will be sequential. Your newsletter will still be published every Sunday evening. But the newsletter you get will depend on when you signed up. So if you subscribe in September or in December or sometime next year, your first newsletter will be the same. The new format gives you easy action steps in the sequence you need to develop your international business.

  • Each week you will go through a different step.
  • So you will complete the 8 steps in 8 weeks.
  • And then it starts again.
  • The next 8 action steps will take your further along the path of developing your international markets.
  • And this process will repeat itself every 8 weeks.

Get the action steps you need to open up your business to foreign markets.

Get the motivation you need to take action right now and create the international business development process best suited for your business.

The International Sales Road Map is for all business owners and marketing professionals who are not doing anything specific to develop their international business. This includes companies without any international clients at all, and companies with accidental international sales. Brick and mortar companies and online businesses.

This means you have to start right from the beginning in the first 8 weeks.

And then during each 8 week cycle we will review the International Sales Road Map process, adding on additional action steps, so you can improve your strategy.

Every week you will receive an action step and a homework assignment for you to take that week.

To get the most out of the Get International Clients Newsletter you must commit to taking consistent action.

Additional Current News During The Week

In addition to the Get International Clients Newsletter I will send you each Sunday evening, I will also send you an email or two during the week if I have been working on something that I want to share with you.

For example, when I notice any trend in the questions coming in, I will share my answers with everyone.

This way you get more current information.

But I have to warn you, some weeks the work I get paid for will be keeping me too busy for these extra current news bits. So I am only going to send them to you when I can.

In-Depth Special Reports Answer Your Questions In Detail

This is also where the free monthly reports come in handy. You can read them when you have time.

You can stay focused on taking the small actions you need to take each week, and keep your momentum feeding your international business development.

The special reports are there when you have more detailed questions.

All newsletter subscribers will get one monthly report free with their subscription.

The free monthly reports start in September too, and they will go further in depth into one of the actions covered that month.

By the way, these same reports, free for the Get International Clients weekly newsletter subscribers, will be available for non-subscribers, but at a price of $29.99.

I could say there are two reasons why you should sign up now for the Weekly Newsletter.

  • It is true, when you see the value of these free reports when they are published in September, you will want to sign up immediately.

But, the real reason why you should sign up for the International Sales Road Map Weekly Newsletter is very simply to start taking action today.

Let me guide you through the steps you need to take to develop your international business.

The sooner you start to develop the skills you need to communicate effectively with your foreign markets, the sooner you will get international clients.

Don’t wait and let others get the competitive edge you could have today. Sign up below.

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3.2

Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival #16

August 24, 2008 by User Imagecindy  


Welcome to the August 24, 2008 edition of the Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival.

Last Weeks Most Popular Sunday Blog Carnival Article

“7 Ways to Make Your Blog Visitors Come Back for More” was voted the most popular post last week. Let’s see which of this weeks posts wins next.

Cindy King presents European PowerAge 137 - A European Marketers Blog List posted at Cindy King.

International Business

Dr. Joe Capista presents How a Vision Statement Can Influence Your Business Success posted at The Success Triangle, saying, “Many people tend to negate the value of a vision statement for a business. But a vision statement is important for success of a business as it provides a sense of direction on where you want your business to go. Without a vision, you are like a crewless boat; adrift with no destination in sight.

Discover the importance of having a concise vision statement.”

Kathleen Gage presents The Power and Profit of Teleseminars posted at Street Smarts Marketing & Promotions, saying, “Teleseminars, also known as teleconferences and teleclasses, are fast becoming one of the most valuable strategies you can use to increase your market position, your opt-in subscriber list and your profit margins. You can quickly become known as an expert in both your industry and your market through the power of teleconferences.

Teleseminars are likely to be one of your most profitable revenue strategies available due to the relatively low cost to develop and market them.

Find out essential things you need to know before you host a teleseminar.”

International Marketing

Sagar Satapathy presents 50 Easy ways to Improve Your Twitter Experience posted at Web World Wide.

Internet Marketing

Samir Bharadwaj presents Blog Ads by PerfomancingAds posted at SamirBharadwaj.com, saying, “Blog ads are the most lucrative way to monetise your blog. The new PerfomancingAds takes the effort out of selling advertising and managing inventory, so here’s a detailed guide to the whys, hows, pros, and cons of the service.”

Cindy King presents Website Internationalization Guide posted at Get International Clients.

Scott Palat presents How To Acquire Students for Your E-tutoring Business posted at Scott Palat.

Other

Allison Nazarian presents Writing a newsworthy press release that hits the mark posted at Allison Nazarian, saying, “Writing a newsworthy press release is the do it yourself copywriter’s chance to hit the mark with free, wide-reaching publicity.”

Anya Portnik presents How to make more money in 7.5 simple steps, part I posted at The Big Fat Guru.

Allison Nazarian presents Are you an expert in the Virtual Assistant field? Here’s how to tell posted at CopywritingForVAs, saying, “Last time, we talked about how to tell if you’re an expert in the Virtual Assistant field. Today, I’m sharing a few more reminders that you may already be an expert VA.”

Allison Nazarian presents What’s The Hook? posted at CopywritingForVAs, saying, “I’ve noticed that a lot of small business owners, including many Virtual Assistants, overlook press releases when preparing their marketing efforts. Or, they employ press releases but not, in my opinion, properly.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Get International Clients using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: , .

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3.2

GIC Week In Review - 34

August 23, 2008 by User Imagecindy  


Here is this weeks review on Get International Clients:

This is the last week full of cross-cultural web tools. The Cross-Cultural Web Tool Business Guide will be revised this coming week.

As usual, the Sunday Blog Carnival starts off this week:

International Business Articles: Read more

New Navigation For The International Sales Road Map

August 22, 2008 by User Imagecindy  


As you can see, there have been a few changes here on Get International Clients.

There are now several new icons.

An important part of these improvements is the 8 different color scheme for the 8 different steps of the International Sales Road Map.

This new color scheme should make navigation between the different steps much easier. It will also help you to follow this process designed as a key tool for your international business development.

These colors will be used for all of the Business Guides within the International Sales Road Map.

All of the action steps in the International Sales Road Map have been assigned to one of the 8 steps, and therefore one color.

Having each action clearly identified with one step is ideal for businesses just beginning their international development. But in practice some actions may cross over into a different step. This is all part of the process.

These 8 steps are designed to be continued in one long, on-going process until it becomes second nature. This is how you will:

  • Develop the right international mind-set.
  • Take consistent action to develop your international business

As soon as you finish going through all of the 8 steps the first time, you need to go back to Step 1 and repeat the process over and over again. And this is where some businesses find themselves doing an action from step 2 as they are in step 3.

This is normal. Don’t stop your actions.

It is important to keep the dynamics of the process going.

I will soon add a time line to show how some actions may overlap as you progress several times through the 8 step process.

Don’t forget to check out these other useful resources:

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3.2

Newsletters For International Business Development

August 21, 2008 by User Imagecindy  

As an international business developer, one of your primary concerns should be to use all available tools to build trust with your foreign prospects and clients.

Most cross-cultural communication barriers are a direct result in lack of trust. So not only do you have to actively work on building trust building, you also need to highlight your current trust-building efforts and continually bring them to your clients attention.

Building trust can seem vague. But it becomes easy when you learn that you build trust through clarity and consistency.

This means you need to communicate clearly and consistently. If you are building a business you also need to be proactive in your communication.

A Monthly Newsletter

It is no surprise that one of the oldest communication tools is also a good trust-building communication tool.

Newsletters have been around for a long time. Although some people may think their market is tired of newsletters, market fatigue is usually not at fault.

If you feel your newsletter is not working for you, your newsletter is probably not addressing a key element.

Let’s look at why a newsletter is a great tool for your international business development. This list will help you understand what needs to go into a good newsletter.

Building Trust Through Consistency

A newsletter gives you a tool to provide consistent information on a regular, and again consistent, basis.

The content you provide in your newsletter should be consistent. Consistent with your topic and with your readers expectations.

Your newsletter’s publication schedule should also be consistent. Your consistency will reinforce the reasons why your readers should listen to you.

Newsletters are a great tool to build trust in your international markets.

Business Clarity And Specificity

Your newsletter also gives you a tool to communicate clarity in your business objectives.

  • Avoid mixed signals.
  • Create a congruent message.
  • Provide proof to your claims.

This is a very important part of successful newsletters for either domestic or international audiences. Many people do not make their newsletter congruent with their markets.

Successful use of congruency in your international marketing is one of the determining factors in successful international business development.

Newsletters are a great tool to communicate with clarity about the specificity and congruency of what you do.

Cultures Where Newsletters Work Best

According to the 5 different cultural behavioral scales there are some countries where newsletters should be promoted more.

I do not want to list countries here, because the statistics that are available are old. I also feel that generalizations in business can easily lead to big mistakes. The theory that concerns us here is:

  • Some cultures have a high tendency towards individualism, the United States and Great Britain for example.
  • Some cultures have a high tendency towards collectivism, China, several other far eastern countries and also several South American countries.

The important thing to remember is that high collectivism cultures are where people respond better to a group.

Newsletters bring people together, so they should give you good results in high collectivism countries.

This does not mean that newsletters do not work as well in the other countries.

This does mean that your high collectivism market should react well to newsletters. So if you want to expand into these countries, try creating a culture targeted newsletter for these countries. Also remember to pay attention to responses within these markets when promoting your newsletter.

Newsletters are a cultural communication tool.

Multichannel Marketing Element

If you are serious about developing your international markets, you will need to use a few different marketing channels to communicate with your foreign markets. There are several reasons why multichannel marketing is important:

  • To find the best way to communicate with foreign markets
  • To create presence when you are not physically there
  • To give you good communication tools to stimulate market feedback
  • To continue your conversation elsewhere and stay in front of your prospects

Newsletters are an easy way to touch your markets on a large scale. You can easily use your newsletter within an integrated marketing program or international lead generation strategy.

Newsletters are a key component in many multichannel marketing strategies.

Easy To Culture Customize

One of the best reasons to create a newsletter specifically for one target country, is that it is an easy option. In todays world, people do not want long articles.

One very cost-effective way to create a culture-customized presence in a foreign country on a small budget, is create a monthly newsletter for each country you are targeting.

A simple, monthly, 2 page newsletter, with 4 short articles will not cost you a fortune.

The plus side, is that you will get more mileage out of your investment with minimal planning.

You can easily re-purpose the 4 articles in your monthly newsletter and use them in different marketing channels. Each month this could give you the following culturally customized touches in your target country:

  • 1 2-page newsletter
  • 4 weekly articles on your country specific website
  • 4 weekly blog posts
  • 4 weekly emails
  • 4 weekly audio blasts if you take the time to have someone read them.

You can even print out your newsletter on one double sided piece of paper and mail it to your prospects your clients, or distribute it out at events.

And, if you think strategically about the subjects you cover each month, a year later you could have 12 useful evergreen product sheets, or case studies to help you develop your international sales.

Culture customized newsletters are great value when developing your business in different countries.

International Communication Tools

If you currently do not have a newsletter targeted to your international audience, consider the points above and give it a try.

Instead of thinking of newsletters as company communication, look at newsletters as a culture targeted communication tool.

Change your perspective of newsletters for an even better understanding of how you can use your newsletter to build you business.

This is part of a series, read more here: Culture Customized Content Guide

Have a look at the Get International Clients Business Guide 4 for other ways to Build Your International Marketing Strategy

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3.2

How To Connect With Your International Clients

August 20, 2008 by User Imagecindy  

Are you ready to create stronger relationships with your international audiences? Then maybe you are experiencing a common problem.

This is part of the Culture Customized Content Guide with more articles you may like to read

When small companies set out to create stronger relationships within their foreign markets they feel confronted with two conflicting challenges:

* One of the challenges is how to keep foreign content creation manageable and affordable.
* The other challenge is to create a multichannel marketing to leverage more.

There is no easy answer to this.

You Need Communication

You will always need to initiate contact with your foreign prospects if you want to develop these markets.

You cannot sit back, do nothing and hope foreign clients find your products. If you want to make sales in different cultures you need to communicate with these cultures.

* The better you connect with a specific foreign culture the deeper relationships you create.
* The more you understand your foreign markets, the better your offer will be for that particular culture.
* The more relevant your international offer, the more international sales you will make.

So, how can you get the most value out of your foreign language content?

You Need The Right Communication

First, you must carefully select the ways you touch and make contact with your foreign markets.

Is this the content you need to connect with this particular foreign market?

It is not always easy to find the right communication format for each of the countries you are selling to.

You Need Telephone Marketing

In todays world, you need to get the most out of internet based communication. But before looking into web marketing, remember :

  • Do not forget telephone marketing!

Telephone marketing is not expensive today. There is no excuse not to include some telephone marketing in your international marketing strategy. Telephone marketing is the ideal way to keep your finger on the live wire of how your international marketing needs to be focused.

The most valuable information you will get from your international markets will probably come from your telephone contacts.

Telephone marketing does not need to take up much of your time.

  • One phone call every couple of days, consistently over time can move your business into an international business.
  • If you have a slow month where you are able to be on the phone for an hour every day, this time can put your international business development on the right track.

What is important is to keep a regularly in touch with your foreign markets over the phone.

Start with using the phone for your international market research. This will get you in the habit of grabbing for the phone.

Continue to grab for the phone as often as you can throughout all of your international marketing.

You Need Value Communication

Your international communication is easy to deliver over the web. But you still need to create targeted communication.

Creating communication targeted to a specific culture requires a little effort. This is complicated by the fact that when you first start, you will not know how you need to target your communication.

If you are making the effort to create targeted communication and want to learn more about your international markets, it makes good sense to use the best web marketing tools to help you.

  • Choose your communication strategically.
  • Use your communication strategically within a multichannel strategy
  • Use web statistics to help you monitor results and give you the information you need to adapt your aim to improve your communication.

This is how you will learn to create valuable communication for each of your international markets

You Need To Get More Out Of Your Communication

If you are just beginning to develop your international markets, you will need to test which communication methods work best in your foreign markets. Different cultures respond differently.

  • Do not make any assumptions.
  • Take things one step at a time.
  • Test different communication formats on a small scale.
  • Adjust and adapt your international communication to your foreign markets.

Connecting with foreign markets through targeted foreign content is information marketing. One of the fundamental principals of information marketing is to re-purpose your content.

You can easily use the basics of re-purposing your foreign language content to leverage your investment and test different communication formats.

Example With A Culture Customized 2 Page Newsletter

For example, one of the easiest ways is to start with creating a short 2 page newsletter, with 4 short articles, targeted to one country.

  • The 4 short articles can easily be re-purposed into 4 emails, 4 blog posts and 4 articles on your website under a country sub domain.
  • The 2 page newsletter can easily be printed on one piece of paper and mailed or handed out at an event.
  • You can include a different call to action on each communication format, and track results. For example, surveys, games or special report download.
  • You can include links to your other marketing activities to integrate your international prospects into a wider sphere if this is appropriate, a general product information event for example.

Of course you should aim to write your culture customized content in the appropriate foreign language.

But do not let this stop or delay your international marketing for months.

The feedback you can get is often worth it and delays do not bring you anything of value.

If most of your foreign prospects usually speak English well enough to read in English, start your newsletter in English. Be proactive in cultivating feedback.  Begin the process of learning about your foreign markets.  Then you will know how to create a foreign language newsletter much better when you are ready to do it.

Your Other Options

The benefits of writing a monthly newsletter targeted to one country audience are important in cross-cultural communication:

  • A monthly newsletter provides consistency, essential in building trust across cultures.

It also provides a good multichannel marketing element.

As you can see from the example above:

  • A little thought and strategy into your foreign content creation can give you real international marketing tools.
  • A little monitoring and analysis helps you to find the right communication for your markets.

A culture customized 2 page newsletter is not the only option for beginners. A country targeted blog is also a good starting point for some businesses.

How you integrate your first culture customized communication tool into your international marketing strategy is more important than your first choice. Where you start is simply your starting point.

Yes, it is better to identify your best communication tool right from the start, but not if this means you delay starting your communication for months or never get started.

Remember: your first priority is to stimulate foreign market feedback so you can learn more about your market and adapt your communication for more effective results.

The right communication will connect you with your international clients.

Remember to have a look at the other elements in the Get International Clients Business Guide 4 -
Build Your International Marketing Strategy
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3.2

Video Marketing 101

August 19, 2008 by User Imagecindy  

There are several reasons why businesses should consider video marketing to reach their international markets.

Video marketing is fast becoming a necessity throughout the online business world. The trend is not going to stop.

The main reason is because video marketing, when well done, pulls better responses. So more and more businesses are using video marketing to promote their services.

Videos are also being used on websites much more productively than in the past. They are cheaper to produce, faster to make, and easier to put online.

It is used heavily for online B2C marketing. It is also used effectively in online B2B online lead generation.

The best practices for online marketing and online business in domestic markets can almost always be adapted to international markets.

To get good results internationally you do need to integrate your best internet marketing practice with good cross cultural communication practices.

Video marketing is a powerful credibility building tool. It can be used to:

  • create proof
  • desire for your product
  • familiarity with your company and products
  • reinforce credibility

Videos can be a very powerful tool in your cross cultural marketing. Video marketing can be a very important part of your international internet marketing plan.

In order to use video marketing in your international business development, you need to get good at both:

  • video marketing and cross cultural communication.

Remember, all of the standard good practices in cross cultural communication and international marketing still apply here as well.
We will look into how you can use good cross cultural marketing in your video marketing.

First let’s run through the basics of video marketing.

When Do You Need Video Marketing?

When Do You Need Video Marketing?

Where Is Video Marketing Effective?

Where Is Video Marketing Effective?

Insights Into Cost Effective Video Marketing For International Markets

Insights Into Cost Effective
Video Marketing
For International Markets

Don’t Miss The Whole Story

Build your international marketing strategy This is part of the Get International Clients Business Guide 4
Build Your International Marketing Strategy
Be sure to check out the other useful tips to build your international marketing strategy

More From Cindy

Are you interested in taking a course on how to create videos for web marketing?

Cross cultural marketer and international sales specialist Read my review of Web Video University here on my personal blog:
International Web Video Marketing

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3.2

How To Set Up Your Communication Platform

August 18, 2008 by User Imagecindy  

If you are just beginning to define your international marketing plan, one of your first decisions will be how you set up your international communication platform.

Let’s review the different ways you can set up your international website.

Internationalize Your Current Website

This can be an easy way out if you are beginning to sell your products abroad. It simply involves editing your website to become as neutral as possible, and stimulating more international interaction.

Marketing Phase: It can work for a company in the Export Marketing phase.

When not to use: if your content is too culturally specific for your current market needs.

One Separate International Website

This is often a good idea if you know your company will move towards several country specific websites. You use one url for all of your international clients. Some companies keep a separate url for their original domestic market.

  • www.internationalcompany.com
  • www.mothercompany.com

Marketing Phase: Again this is a good solution for Export Marketing. It is also a good base to start with when moving towards a Global Website.

When not to use: There is no real reason not to use an International Website. You do not need one if you are only going to market to one or two specific foreign countries and have no plans to expand further.

Your Main Website With Sub Directories

This option is very easy to set up. People usually use this option if they do not have basic webmaster skills to set up Sub Domains.

  • www.company.com/country

Marketing Phase: This is an option for all marketing phases. I think it is more a question of the size of your foreign markets. This is an option used by smaller endeavors.

When not to use: If you have lots of foreign content, it is probably better to use Sub Domains instead.

Your Main Website With Sub Domains

This is an option if you do not know how fast your international business will grow in specific countries. This option gives you the flexibility to have foreign content without a lot of extra website management.

You will probably need your webmaster to set this up. But it is very easy to do. It is also easy to manage all of the foreign content.

  • www.country.company.com

Marketing Phase: This is an option for all marketing phases. If you are in the Export Marketing or International Marketing phase, you can let your international business grow using this platform before moving to Localized Websites.

When not to use: If you know you need the extra marketing power of Localized Websites and do not want to lose time migrating one to the other. It might not be the ideal platform for Global Marketing.

The Main Factors To Help You Find Your Ideal Solution

As you can see from your choices above, there are several factors that will come into your decision process.

Easy To Manage

Most mid-sized companies think they need to start off with Localized Websites. This was the norm a few years ago. Recent improvements in international search engine results make Sub Domains a viable option. Sub Domains are much easier to manage. You will not need any extra expertise once the Sub Domains are set up.

Designed For Expansion

The most important thing you need to consider is programming future expansion.

Plan to implement the use of templates early on. Have a look now at what will cause you problems when you want to use templates later.

Designing your current website needs for future expansion will save you time and money when you are ready to move on to more country specific marketing.

Cost

Companies want to control their investment. This is hard to do when web marketing continually changes and improves. If you are just starting to expand internationally you should plan on adapting your website as your international markets expand.

Today Localized Websites with country specific urls are still considered to be more powerful marketing tools in some countries and in some industries. This trend might be different next year, or the year after. Localized Websites require some additional website management and costs

Having one main website with a Sub Domain for each country is a cost effective option today. It might not give you the same marketing clout in some foreign countries as a Localized Website.

Some companies promote country specific urls and then re-direct the link back to the appropriate Sub Domain on their main website.

Foreign Language Translations

Many companies get stuck with regards to foreign content. If you are just starting to develop internationally here are some basics to get you quickly unstuck.

  • All sales are easier to make if you make them in the clients native language.
  • Human translations are the only ones you should consider to use for any sales materials.
  • Website templates are very cost effective for website translations.
  • You don’t need to translate everything all at once - see reference to templates just above.

Your foreign clients might still buy from you if you market to them in your own language. If so this will give you valuable market information weeks and months before your translations are ready. This market information will probably also give you better information on what you need to translate and how to sell to this foreign market.

Remember, if you start off selling to foreign markets without translations, plan on using them as soon as your international market have proven its viability.

Another important point to remember, Localized Websites involve translating all of your business online: content, website, and sales strategies. This requires intimate market knowledge for each country you are selling to.

Avoid Analysis Paralysis

This decision might be a difficult one to evaluate. You may think your international success depends on how you set up your international websites.

This is not true. Your international success depends on how much you interact with your foreign markets.

The sooner you start connecting with your international markets, the faster you will learn how to adapt your offer to different cultures and expand your international business.

The communication tools you use to connect with your international audience and how you stimulate feedback is even more important.

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2.5

Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival #15

August 17, 2008 by User Imagecindy  


Welcome to the August 17, 2008 edition of the Get International Clients Sunday Blog Carnival.

Last Weeks Most Popular Sunday Blog Carnival Article

“Attention Authors! Sell Lots of Books with Teleseminars!” was voted the most popular post last week. Let’s see which of this weeks posts wins next.

Internet Marketing

Andy King presents Web Site Optimization Recommended Books posted at Website Optimization.

Hans presents 7 Ways to Make Your Blog Visitors Come Back for More posted at Catch The Posts.

International Marketing

Allison Nazarian presents Researching your target market…on a shoestring budget posted at Allison Nazarian, saying, “Being clear on your niche and target market is crucial to your marketing success. This takes research, of course. Seven tips for big market research on a not-so-big budget”

Heather Johnson presents Mobile blogging? using apps or browsers posted at Blog Solute.

Multicultural Marketing

John W. Furst presents Bad Future For Email? posted at E-Biz Booster Blog, saying, “Different kind of multicultural, but still… Does your Grandma use Email? Do your teenage kids or nephews use email the same ways as you do? I think those are very interesting questions for a marketer, aren’t they.”

Other

Anya Portnik presents What one thing do you wish that you’d known when you started out in sales? posted at Gavin Ingham.

Neelakantha presents 50 Free Internet Tools for Tin-Foil Hat Wearers posted at Web World Wide.

Internet Submitter presents Uncle Sam Wants You Searching posted at Internet Marketing Blog, saying, “This gives you insight into the government searching that you can perform everyday.”

Fiona King presents Open for Business: 100+ Open Courseware Collections for Web Entrepreneurs posted at Biz.Edu.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Get International Clients using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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